Maryland picked up its first commitment in the Class of 2017 over the weekend as four-star big man Bruno Fernando made a pledge to the Terps.

The 6-foot-10 Fernando was at one time an SMU commit, but he opted for a postgrad year and re-opened his recruitment before deciding on Maryland. Regarded as the No. 112 overall prospect in the Class of 2017, Fernando should add to a solid stable of big men that the Terps have had the last few years.

Coming off of a class where they picked up four, four-star prospects, Maryland is off to a very good start in the Class of 2017 with Fernando. With Damonte Dodd being a senior and Michal Cekovsky starting his junior year, Maryland can develop Fernando as a rotation player the next few years before he needs to play bigger minutes.

Greg Gard landed perhaps his most important recruiting victory on Monday afternoon as in-state Class of 2018 guard Tyler Herro pledged to the Badgers.

A consensus four-star prospect who is ranked No. 66 in the latest Rivals Class of 2018 national rankings, Herro is a talented 6-foot-4 guard who can put up points and handle the ball a bit.

Herro’s commitment is Wisconsin’s first in the Class of 2018 and its an important one because Gard and the Badgers were able to keep a potential national recruit home. Arizona had recently offered Herro and others were likely to join and for Gard to keep him here is very big for his recruiting future.

The Badgers did a nice job in the Class of 2017, as they’ve landed some skilled shooters, including four-star guard Brad Davison and four-star forward Nathan Reuvers. Now they’ve also started well in the next class and not many college programs have commitments from four-star top-100 prospects.

The NBA Draft’s Early Entry Deadline has come and gone. Just about every elite recruit has decided where they will be playing their college ball next season. The coaching carousel, which ended up spinning a bit faster than initially expected, has come to a close for all of the major programs.

In other words, by now, we have a pretty good feel for what college basketball is going to look like during the 2016-17 season. With that in mind, let’s take a look at what has happened — and what will happen — in the Big 12 over the next six months.

KEY OFFSEASON STORYLINES

What does Caleb Swanigan end up doing?: Purdue big man Caleb Swanigan has one of the most fascinating NBA Draft cases of any freshman. The power forward is currently testing the waters without an agent, but his guardian, Roosevelt Barnes, is an agent with experience on handling things like this. That will help Swanigan make an informed and interesting choice. If he’s back, Purdue still has an interior of Swanigan and 7-footer Isaac Haas and would be the best front court in the Big Ten.

Are things back to normal at Wisconsin?: Last offseason was an odd one for Wisconsin as former head coach Bo Ryan kept his job (for a bit) after back-to-back Final Fours and the team was rebuilding. New head coach Greg Gard took over mid-season and now the program belongs to him going forward as he helped the Badgers make the Sweet 16. This offseason, Wisconsin gets some stability as Gard gets to recruit for the future and has a potentially good team returning. If Nigel Hayes returns from the NBA Draft, the Badgers get most of their pieces back.

Maryland waits on Melo: Next season at Maryland will already look different as the team loses Diamond Stone and Robert Carter to the draft along with seniors Jake Layman and Rasheed Sulaimon. But if sophomore guard Melo Trimble stays in the NBA Draft, the Terps will looks like a completely unique starting lineup. If Melo does come back, he’s a frontrunner for Big Ten Player of the Year and Maryland has a shot to remain a solid team.

What does Indiana look like after Yogi Ferrell’s departure?: The last four seasons, senior point guard Yogi Ferrell was a key part of what Indiana did on offense. He was the engine that made them go. Now that he’s gone the Hoosiers will be a unique team, as Thomas Bryant and Robert Johnson are the beat guys guaranteed back. If Troy Williams returns from the NBA Draft and James Blackmon Jr. (who’s also going through the Draft process) is healthy, Indiana will again find themselves in Big Ten contention.

NOTABLE NEWCOMERS

Miles Bridges, Michigan State: Tom Izzo reloaded in East Lansing with a tremendous recruiting class headlined by the 6-foot-7 Bridges. Returning home to Michigan, Bridges is powerful enough to unleash ferocious in-game windmills or skilled enough to score on the perimeter.

L.G. Gill, Maryland: The Duquesne graduate transfer gives the Terps another body in the front court as he put up 10.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game last season. The 6-foot-7 Gill can also knock down some three-pointers.

Tony Carr, Penn State: The headliner of a top 25 recruiting class, the 6-foot-4 Carr has great size for a point guard and he’s the type of player who could make an immediate impact on the perimeter for the Nittany Lions.

Spike Albrecht, Purdue: Can you really call an inner-conference transfer a newcomer? Well, either way, if Albrecht can provide steady point guard minutes and some much-needed perimeter shooting for Purdue, then it’s a great addition.

SURPRISING DEPARTURES

Deyonta Davis, Michigan State: Now that the Spartans are battling for No. 1 rankings and Final Four appearances, you have expect one-and-done players to happen and after a solid freshman season, Davis has a chance to be a top-15 pick.

Robert Carter, Maryland: Not much of a surprise that the junior big man opted to go pro, but rather, that he signed an agent before he had to. But based on his opening day at the NBA Draft Combine — in which he went for 22 points and scored in multiple ways in a scrimmage — Carter looks like he might have made the correct decision.

COACHING CHANGES

Steve Pikiell, Rutgers: The former Stony Brook head man led the Seawolves to the NCAA tournament this past March as he now gets a shot in the Big Ten. Rutgers is one of the tougher high-major jobs in the country, but Pikiell built a successful program at Stony Brook that included a potential draft pick in forward Jameel Warney.

Indiana picked up its fourth Class of 2016 commitment on Saturday as guard Devonte Green, the younger brother of San Antonio Spurs guard Danny Green, pledged to the Hoosiers. The 6-foot-1 Green announced his decision to commit to Indiana on Saturday afternoon.

Regarded as a three-star prospect, according to Rivals, Green can play a bit of both guard spots and helps Indiana with additional perimeter flexibility for next season. Green joins four-star shooting guard Curtis Jones, four-star big man Da’Ron Davis and three-star guard Grant Gelon in Indiana’s 2016 class.

With the Hoosiers losing Yogi Ferrell and Nick Zeisloft next season — and with the team dealing with roster uncertainty with James Blackmon’s season-ending injury and Troy Williams potentially going pro — Green gives Indiana another insurance policy. The late-blooming Green hails from New York and attends Long Island Lutheran.

Following a Demetrius Jackson tip dunk with 6:32 remaining that gave Notre Dame a 71-63 lead, Indiana looked to be in serious trouble at the Crossroads Classic in Indianapolis. They weren’t stringing together stops defensively, thus preventing them from making a dent in the Fighting Irish advantage despite knocking down shots on the other end.

But Indiana went to a zone defensively and received a much-needed spark from Troy Williams, sparking a 17-2 run that turned the eight-point deficit into an 80-73 victory.

The junior wing scored seven of Indiana’s final 17 points, finishing with 18 points and ten rebounds on the afternoon. Williams’ intensity, like that of his teammates, hasn’t always been present this season especially on the defensive end of the floor. But that changed down the stretch against Notre Dame, with Bonzie Colson (24 points, eight rebounds) and V.J. Beachem (18 points) both going quiet as a result. Notre Dame shot a respectable 45.5 percent in the second half, but a lot of that damage was done early in the stanza.

Mike Brey’s team led by as much as 16, but the Hoosiers managed to avoid the play that could have served as the knockout blow. Ultimately the Hoosiers would take advantage of Notre Dame’s missed opportunities, and their play in the final six-plus minutes should be something for Tom Crean’s team to build upon.

But the question that begs asking is a simple one: why can’t Indiana play that way on a consistent basis?

There’s no question that the talent is present, with Ferrell running the point and multiple players capable of scoring on the wings such as Williams, James Blackmon Jr. and Robert Johnson. But there hasn’t been a consistent commitment to getting stops instead of simply relying on their offensive talents and the mindset that “we’ll just get the points back on the other end.”

If Indiana is to compete with the likes of Michigan State, Maryland and Purdue in Big Ten play, they have to play with greater consistency and commitment on defense. Colson and Zach Auguste were a big reason why Notre Dame scored 46 points in the paint, as Indiana continues to struggle with its interior defense and that may be a trend the Hoosiers simply have to deal with. The move to zone helped Indiana account for this issue, and unlike their failed comeback attempt against UNLV last month the Hoosiers finished the job this time around.

The last six-plus minutes showed, to a certain extent, what Indiana is capable of when fully engaged. But the fact that they don’t play that way consistently is why there’s been so much frustration with this group. Can Saturday’s win serve as the spark Indiana needs? That remains to be seen.

No. 1 Michigan State’s trip to Boston to take on Northeastern wasn’t expected to be an easy one, as the Huskies are an experienced and talented group that picked up a win at No. 15 Miami earlier this season. And that’s how things played out at the start, with Bill Coen’s team dominating the boards and controlling the tempo.

But after a sloppy first ten minutes Tom Izzo’s team played at the level one would expect of the nation’s best team, going on to win 78-58 in a game shown on NBCSN.

At one point in the first half Northeastern had more offensive rebounds (nine) than Michigan State had total rebounds (five), with Zach Stahl and Kwesi Akabah proving particularly difficult for the Spartans to keep off the glass. But once Michigan State’s front court managed to complete defensive possessions with a rebound the Spartans were able to get out in the open floor and increase the game’s tempo, turning a tight game into a comfortable victory by game’s end.

Denzel Valentine accounted for 17 points, five rebounds and six assists, and by game’s end Michigan State finished with more second chance points than Northeastern (14-13). Add in 14 points off of 12 Northeastern turnovers, and Michigan State moved one win (12-0) closer to producing the best start in program history. Offensively the Spartans shot nearly 56 percent from the field and had three players reach double figures, with Bryn Forbes (12 points) and Tum Tum Nairn (11) joining Valentine.

Also of note for Michigan State was the return of forward Gavin Schilling, who missed the first 11 games due to injury. Schilling played just 11 minutes, producing four points and three rebounds, but he was the team’s best big man during their summer trip to Italy and his return gives the Spartans another option to call upon inside. That will be key for them moving forward, as he’ll join a rotation that includes fellow veteran Matt Costello and freshmen Deyonta Davis and Kenny Goins.

Michigan State’s first-shot defense was very good Saturday afternoon, as Northeastern shot just 37.3 percent from the field with David Walker scoring 13 points on 5-for-15 shooting. But the game didn’t change in their favor until the Spartans got back to cleaning up the defensive glass as they had in the 11 games prior, and that attention to detail will be key as Michigan State plays games of even greater magnitude later in the season.